Kuba NXT (1997)
|manufacturer = }}The 1997 Acura NSX (NA1) is an American Sports car. It can be bought for $160,000 and appeared in Ultimate Driving on 2020 New Year Update. It is called 1997 Kuba NXT in-game. Description Around 1984, Honda engineers began experimenting with different engine and chassis layouts to test viability for future products. One of the test mules was a Honda City that had been cut in half, with the engine installed behind the driver's seat and powering the rear wheels. Although the project was not developed any further, many of the engineers were inspired by the exciting laps around the company parking lot in the mid-engined City. This experience, in part, convinced Honda leadership that the company should consider developing a pure sports car. As a result, in 1984, Honda commissioned the Italian car styling house Pininfarina to design the concept car HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental), which had a C20A 2.0 L V6 engine in a mid-mounted configuration. After Honda committed to a sports car project, the company management informed the engineers working on the project that the new car would have to be as fast as anything coming from Italy and Germany. The HP-X concept car evolved into a prototype known as NS-X, which stood for "N'ew", "'S'portscar" "e'X'''perimental". The prototype and eventual production model—which was marketed as the '''NSX— were designed by a team led by Honda Chief Designer, Masahito Nakano, and Executive Chief Engineer, Shigeru Uehara (who were subsequently placed in charge of the S2000 project). The original performance target for Honda's new sports car was the Ferrari 328 (and later, the 348) as the design neared completion. Honda intended its sports car to meet or exceed the performance of the Ferrari, while offering superior reliability and a lower price. For this reason, the 2.0 L V6 engine utilised in the HP-X was shelved and ultimately replaced with a significantly more powerful 3.0 L VTEC V6 engine. Over the course of development of the NSX, many engines were used, ranging from the 2.7-litre single overhead camshaft V6 engine from the Honda Legend/Honda Coupé to the 3.0-litre single overhead camshaft V6 engine, used subsequently in 15 test mules. Honda eventually settled on a non-VTEC, 3.0-liter double overhead camshaft 24-valve V6 engine selected for the production model. This engine generated a maximum power output of about 250 hp (186 kW; 253 PS) and 282 N⋅m (208 lb⋅ft) of torque, with a redline of 7,300 rpm. However, at the same time, Honda was working on its revolutionary VTEC variable valve timing system, with plans to release it on the company's home-market 4-cylinder Integra. Honda's then-president Tadashi Kume, himself a highly-skilled and respected engine designer, questioned the NS-X designers' logic in foregoing the VTEC system for Honda's new flagship sports car, while it was being used on the lower-market Integra. As a result, the engine was redesigned very late in the development process "to achieve the desired levels of performance and durability"; Honda designed a new cylinder block with 6-bolt main caps and larger cylinder heads to contain the complex VTEC mechanism. Innovative connecting rods made from a titanium alloy were used to lower reciprocating weight, while increasing overall rod-strength—something which increased the engine's maximum rpm by 700, resulting in a final redline of 8,000 rpm. A consequence of this last-minute engine change was that the new C30A engine was too large to fit in the NS-X's engine bay, which had been carefully sized for the smaller heads of the non-VTEC DOHC 3.0 liter engine. As a result, the engineers were forced to tilt the entire engine backward approximately 5 degrees- a characteristic that continued all the way to the NSX's final production in 2005. The exterior design had been specifically researched by Uehara after studying the 360-degree visibility inside an F-16 fighter jet's cockpit. Thematically, the F-16 came into play in the exterior design as well as establishing the conceptual goals of the NSX. In the F-16 and other high performance air-crafts such as unlimited hydroplanes along with open-wheel race cars, the cockpit is located far forward and in front of the power plant. This "cab-forward" layout was chosen to optimize visibility while the long tail design enhanced high speed directional stability. The NSX was designed to showcase several automotive technologies, many derived from Honda's F1 motor-sports program. The NSX was the first production car to feature an all-aluminium semi-monocoque, incorporating a revolutionary extruded aluminium alloy frame and suspension components. The use of aluminium saved nearly 200 kg (441 lb) of weight over the use of steel in the body alone, while the aluminium suspension arms saved an additional 20 kg (44 lb); a suspension compliance pivot helped maintain wheel alignment changes at a near zero value throughout the suspension cycle. Other notable features included an independent, 4-channel anti-lock brake system; an electric power steering system; Honda's proprietary VTEC variable valve timing system and in 1995, the first electronic throttle control fitted in Honda production car. With a robust motorsports division, Honda had significant development resources at its disposal and made extensive use of them. Respected Japanese Formula One driver Satoru Nakajima, for example, was involved with Honda in the NSX's early on-track development at Suzuka race circuit, where he performed many endurance distance duties related to chassis tuning. Brazilian Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna, who won many races in Formula One with Honda before his death in 1994, was considered Honda's main innovator in convincing the company to stiffen the NSX's chassis further after initially testing the car at Honda's Suzuka GP circuit in Japan. Senna further helped refine the original NSX's suspension tuning and handling by spending a whole day test driving prototypes and reporting his findings to Honda engineers after each of the day's five testing sessions. Senna also tested the NSX at the Nürburgring and other race tracks. As a result of Senna's input, Honda took the NS-X prototype to the Nurburgring to tune the chassis stiffness. Over the course of several months, the chassis was refined in a painstaking process: Nakajima would drive a lap on the circuit and then discuss with the Honda engineers where he felt flex in the chassis. The engineers would hand-weld aluminum braces in the area they believed would fix the issue and send the driver back out to confirm. This process was repeated over and over, with the data results sent directly to Honda headquarters in Japan, where it was fed into a Cray supercomputer and translated into reinforcements in the production aluminum monocoque. As a result of this process, the NS-X chassis stiffness increased by over 50% with only a small increase in weight. The suspension development program was similarly far-ranging and took place at the Tochigi Proving Grounds, the Suzuka circuit, the 179-turn Nürburgring Course in Germany, HPCC, and Honda's newest test track in Takasu, Hokkaido. Honda automobile dealer Bobby Rahal (two-time CART PPG Cup and 1986 Indianapolis 500 champion) also participated in the car's development. In 1997, Honda introduced the NSX's biggest performance upgrade for all of its worldwide markets. Engine displacement was increased from 3.0 L to 3.2 L using a thinner fiber-reinforced metal (FRM) cylinder liner. The exhaust manifold was reconfigured and made of stainless steel header pipes rather than a cast-iron manifold for improved performance and lighter weight. The increased flow from this new configuration was a key contributor to the 20 additional horsepower drawn from the new engine. This revised 3.2 L C32B engine provided a substantial increase to power output: from 274 PS (202 kW; 270 hp) to 294 PS (216 kW; 290 hp) while torque increased from 285 N⋅m (210 lb⋅ft) to 305 N⋅m (225 lb⋅ft) (for cars equipped with manual transmission only). The net result increased the power to weight ratio of the NSX by 7%. The 4-speed automatic model retained its 3.0 L engine and 252 hp power output. Another big change was the adoption of a 6-speed manual transmission with closer gear ratios and the addition of 3rd to 4th gear dual cone synchronizers. To handle the new engine's added torque and power the small diameter twin-disc clutch system of the 5-speed was replaced by a dual-mass low-inertia single disc clutch system. To offset the weight increase of the new 6-speed transmission and larger brake rotors, which had increased diameter from 11.1 in (281.9 mm) to 11.732 inches (298.0 mm), key body parts were made with a new aluminium alloy that was up to 50% stronger allowing the thinner lighter material to be used in the doors, fenders, and front and rear deck lids without any sacrifice of strength and rigidity. Using this hi-strength alloy the net curb weight increase, despite adding many improvements, was only 10 kg (22 lb). Other notable changes included a keyless entry system, vehicle immobilizer system and inclusion of electric power steering on the hardtop coupe trims. The combination of slightly increased power and torque and a new 6-speed transmission, with ratios optimised to improve straight-line acceleration, produced better performance numbers over previous models than the modest increases would suggest. Motor Trend and Road & Track's (Feb 97) tests of the 3.2 L 6-speed equipped NSX-T (Targa) resulted in 0–60 mph acceleration times of 4.8 and 5.0 seconds and quarter-mile times of 13.3 and 13.5 seconds respectively. 0–60 mph times dropped to as low as 4.5 seconds in the coupé 3.2 L variant as recorded by Car and Driver in their August 1998 0–150–0 issue. The NSX proved to be the fastest ever tested in North America when tested by the magazine. When Car and Driver tested the 1999 Zanardi special edition coupé a year later it resulted in a 0–60 mph acceleration time of 4.8 seconds and a 13.2 second quarter-mile time. Although magazine tests for the later face-lift NSX were rare, Honda apparently kept improving the engine as Sports and Exotic Car magazine noted in a farewell article on a 2005 NSX-T and recorded a 0–60 mph acceleration time of 4.7 seconds and a 13.1 second quarter-mile time. (Source from Wikipedia) Vehicle Issue * Its drivetrain is RWD in real life. But it's AWD in-game. * The right rear wheel is bigger than the other side. Trivia * Its rims actually appeared on 2019 De-branding update on Rim Selection, but not the car. Gallery NA1NSXRear.png|Rear of the NA1 NSX NA1NSXHeadlights.png NA1NSXColor.png Category:Citizen Vehicles Category:AWD Vehicles Category:V6 Powered Cars Category:2 Seater Vehicles Category:Pop-up Headlights Cars Category:JDMs Category:American Vehicles Category:Acura